JP2898931B2 - Rotary powder compression molding machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary powder compression molding machine for producing tablets, electronic components and the like of medicines and the like, and more particularly to a rotary powder compression molding machine equipped with a device for monitoring abnormalities on the punch surface. About the machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of rotary powder compression molding machine, a rotary disk is disposed in a frame via a vertical shaft so as to be horizontally rotatable, and a plurality of dies are provided on the rotary disk at a predetermined pitch. At the same time, the upper and lower punches are vertically slidably held above and below each of the dies, and the upper and lower punches, whose tips are inserted into the dies, are passed between the upper and lower rolls. It is general to compress the powder filled therein. When pharmaceuticals are manufactured using such a rotary powder compression molding machine, the quality of the pharmaceuticals is improved by performing systematic manufacturing and quality control over the entire manufacturing process from the receipt of raw materials and materials to the shipment of finished products. For the purpose of securing, GMP (Good, Manuf
Acting, Practice) has been legislated, and there is a demand for improved quality of rotary powder compression molding machines.

[0003]

By the way, in the case of, for example, a medicine, there is a tablet with a character engraved on its surface. When manufacturing such a tablet, mirror-symmetrical characters are engraved on the punch surface at the tip of the punch corresponding to the characters to be marked,
Unevenness is formed on the punch surface. For this reason, the powder to be compression-molded tends to adhere to the tip of the punch, and when the powder adheres, that is, when sticking or other tableting troubles occur, a normal tablet may not be molded, and GMP may not be performed.
Will not be satisfied. Such a tableting trouble is not limited to the punches described above, but may also occur in ordinary punches on which characters are not engraved depending on the dry state of the powder.

[0004] Further, depending on the shape of the punch, abnormalities such as generation of cracks on the punch surface may occur.
When such an abnormality occurs, due to the abnormality,
It is possible that metal fragments get mixed into the tablet. Since there is no effective means to monitor the punch tip during operation, such abnormalities of the punch and the tablet caused by the punch are detected only after the punched product is sampled and checked by the operator. It is. That is, in the rotary powder compression molding machine, the upper and lower punches are arranged to be able to slide up and down with respect to a plurality of dies of the rotary plate. It is necessary to detect abnormalities in the punch by checking for abnormal tablets contained in small amounts in the tablets. For this purpose, the operator must constantly monitor the formed tablets, which places a heavy burden on the operator.

[0005] Further, since molding is continued until an abnormality is detected, a large number of defective tablets are produced, and the loss of wasteful use of raw materials becomes extremely large. Moreover, even when an abnormality is confirmed, it is necessary to inspect all of the plurality of, for example, 45 upper punches, and such a long time is required, which lowers the working efficiency and the production efficiency.

[0006] Further, when the amount of adhesion increases, the tableting pressure increases, and when the tableting pressure by the roll is automatically controlled, the tableting pressure is automatically controlled to be erroneously reduced. Defective products that do not fall within the range of the product standard. Moreover, after the adhesion occurs, the adhered powder falls off the punch surface, and the production is continued in that state. If the adhesion occurs again, the above-mentioned tableting pressure changes variously, and a large amount of nonstandard products is produced. It will be molded into. Further, it is difficult to find out which punch the powder has adhered to as the number of punches increases, and cleaning and checking must be repeated for each punch, which is a laborious operation.

The object of the present invention is to solve such a problem.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotary punched tableting machine according to the present invention includes an upper punch K and a lower punch, which are slidably disposed with respect to a mill M of a turntable T, The configuration is such that the color photographing means C captures an image, and the abnormality detecting means D detects an abnormality of the punch surface from the captured image, and stops the compression molding when an abnormality occurs.

With such a configuration, an abnormal state of the punch surface can be detected without confirming the compression molded product, so that a tableting failure can be detected in real time. Then, since the compression molding is stopped due to the detection of the abnormality, it is possible to prevent the mixing of abnormal products, and thus it is possible to improve the production efficiency.

In the rotary powder compression molding machine of the present invention, a rotary disk is horizontally rotatably disposed in a frame via a vertical shaft, and a plurality of dies are provided on the rotary disk at a predetermined pitch. The upper punch and the lower punch were held vertically slidably above and below, and the punch tip was filled into the die by passing the upper punch and the lower punch inserted in the die between the upper roll and the lower roll. In a rotary powder compression molding machine configured to compress and mold powder, color photographing means for photographing a punch surface and outputting an image signal, and abnormality detecting means for detecting abnormality of the punch surface from the output image signal. I have it .

[0011] The color imaging means illuminates a color camera unit comprising a CCD image sensor, a color selector for selecting inner desired color signal of the video signal output from the color camera unit, a punch surface A light source unit, wherein the abnormality detecting means calculates an area of the image from the color signal, a comparator that compares the calculated area with a normal area of the punch surface, and a comparison result. based Ri Na and a detector for detecting an abnormality, flour when the abnormality detection means detects an abnormality
The present invention is characterized in that the final compression molding is stopped.

In order to make the structure compact, one color photographing means may be constructed so as to photograph the punch surfaces of the upper punch and the lower punch at the same time.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. This rotary powder compression molding machine compression-molds a tablet having characters engraved on its surface, and a punch surface 56 of an upper punch 5 and a lower punch 6, which will be described later, has mirror symmetry as shown in FIG. The letters are engraved. In order to monitor the state of the punch surface 56, a monitoring device including a color photographing unit and an abnormality detecting unit is provided.

A mechanical part MP, which is a main body of the rotary powder compression molding machine, has a rotating disk 3 disposed in a frame 1 via a vertical shaft 2 so as to be horizontally rotatable, and a plurality of dies 4 are mounted on the rotating disk 3. At a predetermined pitch, an upper punch 5 is provided above and below each mill 4.
And the lower punch 6 are slidably held up and down. With the respective tips of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 inserted into the dies 4, a preload upper roll 8a, a preload lower roll 8b, and a main pressure upper roll, which form a main pressure roll pair 9, forming the preload roll pair 8. 9a and the main roll 9b, in this order, the upper rolls 8a, 9a and the lower rolls 8b, 9 so that the powder filled in the die 4 can be compression-molded.
and b are disposed at upper and lower positions of the turntable 3 around the vertical shaft 2. A powder feeding mechanism 7 for supplying powder into the mill 4 is attached to the turntable 3 from above the turntable 3.

An upright shaft 2 supported by a bearing 2a is disposed substantially at the center of the frame 1. A worm wheel 2b is fixed near the lower end of the upright shaft 2, and the worm wheel 2b is fixed to the worm wheel 2b. The rotational driving force of the motor 2e is transmitted via the worm 2c and the belt 2d. A turntable 3 divided into three functional parts is fixed near the upper end of the upright shaft 2. The turntable 3 is provided at a lower portion thereof and holds a lower punch 6 so that the lower punch 6 can slide up and down, and an upper punch which is provided at an upper portion and holds the upper punch 5 so that it can slide vertically. Holder 3
b, and a die portion provided between the upper punch holding portion 3b and the lower punch holding portion 3a and having a plurality of die mounting holes for removably fitting the die 4 on the same circumference. 3c. The upper punch holding portion 3b and the lower punch holding portion 3a
And a plurality of punch holding holes for holding the lower punch 6 slidably. In this rotary plate 3, a lower punch 6
The punch 5 and the mortar 4 are each provided with a punch holding hole and a die mounting hole so as to be positioned in the vertical direction, that is, the centers thereof are on the same straight line.

The upper punch 5 held on the rotating disk 3 is guided to the highest position near the powder feeding mechanism 7 by a guide rail 5a mounted near the upper end of the upright shaft 2, and at the position reaching the upper roll. In addition, it is guided to a lower position where it enters under the roll. Also,
The lower punch 6 is moved up and down by a lowering device 6a provided on the lower side of the turntable 3, and after the compression by the main pressing roll 9b is completed, when the molded product formed by the compression is taken out from the die 4, it reaches the highest position. You will be guided.

The preload roll pair 8 and the main pressure roll pair 9 include upper rolls 8a and 9a and lower rolls 8b and 9b, respectively. The preload upper roll 8a and the preload lower roll 8b of the preload roll pair 8 are arranged so that their centers are located on the same line in the vertical direction, and apply a predetermined pressure to the powder in the die 4 by the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6. In addition, a predetermined distance is provided between circumferential surfaces facing each other in the vertical direction. Similarly, the main pressure upper roll 9a and the main pressure lower roll 9b of the main pressure roll pair 9 are disposed at predetermined positions.
In addition, the pre-load rolls 8a, 8a, 8
The center of b and the main pressure of the main pressure roll pair 9, the main pressure lower roll 9
When the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 reach the position where the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 finish passing through the main pressure roll pair 9, the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 from which the pre-compression starts are pre-pressed. Roll vs. 8
It is set so that it is the timing to start passing through the gap. By this arrangement setting, the compression of the powder by the preload roll pair 8 with respect to the next mill 4 is started immediately before the compression of the powder by the main pressure roll pair 9 ends.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a color camera unit 10 as a photographing means for photographing the punch surface 56 of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 is disposed for each of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6. In response to this, an upper punch surface controller 11a and a lower punch surface controller 11b are also set for the controller 11 as the abnormality detecting means.

Each color camera unit 10
A color camera unit 10a including a CCD image sensor,
A color sensor 10b which is a color selection unit for selecting a desired color signal from image signals output from the color camera unit 10a
And a light source output unit 1 as a light source unit for illuminating the punch surface 56
0c, and the upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a and 11b compare an arithmetic unit for calculating the area of the image from the color signal with the area of the normal punch surface. A microcomputer system comprising a comparator and a detector for detecting an abnormality based on the comparison result is provided. The microcomputer system includes a microcomputer, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O interface, and an A / D converter. further,
The upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a and 11b include a data conversion circuit for converting an input image signal into digital data when processing the image signal.

The color camera section 10a transmits the illumination light from the color CCD camera 10d equipped with a C-mount lens and the light source output unit 10c to the punch surface 56, and sends the image of the punch surface 56 to the color CCD camera 10d. Tube scope 10e and tube scope 10
and a reflecting mirror 10f integrally attached at an angle of about 45 ° to the punch surface 56 at the tip of the e. For example, in order to photograph the punch surface 56 of the upper punch 5, the color camera section 10 a pulls out the upper punch 5 from the mortar 4 to take an image of the punch surface 56 of the upper punch 5, and guides the upper punch 5 to the highest position on the guide rail 5 a in the circumferential direction. It is installed at a position, specifically, a position immediately after powder filling, via an XYZ stage (three-axis moving stage) 12 for vertical and horizontal position adjustment. Is installed at a position corresponding to the timing immediately after the compression-molded tablet is taken out of the die 4, specifically, near the product take-out part. The mounting direction of the color camera unit 10a is such that the axis of the tube-type scope 10e is aligned with the radial direction of the turntable 3 or with the tangential direction of the circle of the center locus of the mill 4. In this case, the reflecting mirror 10f is arranged so that the center thereof coincides with the center line of the punch surface 56. With such mounting, the influence of the angle component due to the rotation of the turntable 3 on the video signal can be reduced. The tube-type scope 10e integrally incorporates an image to the color CCD camera 10d and illumination light from the light source output unit 10c on the same axis. Tube type scope 10
Illumination light is incident on e from the light source output unit 10c via the light guide 10g. In addition,
When the XYZ stage 12 is not provided, the color camera section 10a may be provided so as to be adjustable in the vertical direction and in the front-rear direction.

The color sensor 10b changes its setting each time in accordance with the color of the powder to be compression-molded.
It outputs an image signal of only the adhered powder to be photographed. In other words, of the image signals output from the color camera section 10a, only the image signal corresponding to the desired color set regardless of the color of the punch surface 56 is output.

Upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a, 11b
Is provided with the microcomputer system as described above, processes the image signal from the color sensor 10b, and outputs the processed image signal to the upper punch surface monitor TV1.
3a and the lower punch surface monitor TV13b. In detecting an abnormality by processing an image signal, an upper punch 5 and a lower punch 6 are used.
The area data obtained by imaging the normal state of the punch surface 56 is stored in the ROM as comparison area data. The upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a and 11b process the image signal and obtain a result obtained by the mechanism unit M such as the motor 2e.
It is configured to output a control signal for controlling P to the sequencer 14 for outputting. Further, a timing signal is input to the upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a and 11b from a synchronous sensor 15 for monitoring the movement of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6, and based on the timing signals, the punch surfaces of the respective punches are controlled. 56 image signals are sampled. Thereby, the image signal is associated with each punch,
When performing image processing, the corresponding punch can be immediately confirmed.

The sequencer 14 controls the operation sequence of the mechanical unit MP, and outputs a control signal so as to operate the mechanical unit MP according to a preset order.
The sequencer 14 is electrically connected to a touch display 16 for inputting data necessary for controlling the mechanical unit MP and displaying the contents of the control being executed at that time. The operation sequence can be changed based on the data input from the touch display 16, and a signal indicating the occurrence of an abnormality from at least one of the upper punch controller 11a and the lower punch controller 11b. Is input, a control signal for stopping the operation of the mechanical unit MP is output.

In such a configuration, when the operation is started, the light source output unit 10c transmits the light guide 10g,
Illumination light is applied to the punch surfaces 56 of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 via the tube scope 10e and the reflecting mirror 10f. The punch surfaces 56 of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 illuminated by the illumination light are photographed by the color CCD camera 10d through the reflecting mirror 10f and the tube-type scope 10e, and the punch surfaces 56 of the upper and lower punches 5, 6 are taken. Is output to the color sensor 10b. The color sensor 10b outputs an image signal corresponding to the set color to the upper punch surface controller 11a and the lower punch surface controller 11b. Upper punch surface controller 11a
The lower punch surface controller 11b processes the video signal of the punch surface 56 of the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 for each timing signal output from the synchronous sensor 15. Upper punch 5 photographed continuously
The punch surface 56 of the lower punch 6 is projected in parallel with the upper punch surface monitor TV 13a and the lower punch surface monitor TV 13b.

The image signal processing first calculates the area of the image represented by the image signal input to the upper punch controller 11a and the lower punch controller 11b. For example, the image signal is obtained by counting the number of pixels of the image. And use it as measurement area data. If the powder adheres to the punch surface 56, the area of the image changes depending on the state of the adhesion. For example, as shown by hatching in FIG. 9 with respect to the punch surface 56 having no adhesion shown in FIG. In other words, the area can be obtained from the image signal of the punch surface 56 taken and shows a certain size in accordance with the spread. On the other hand, when the powder is not attached, the color CCD camera 10d shoots only the punch surface 56, and the image signal of the ground metal color is output. Since there is no signal matching the color, the image signal from the color sensor 10b is almost 0, and the area is not calculated.

Thereafter, the measured area data obtained from the image signal is previously stored in the upper and lower punch surface controllers 11a, 1a.
1b is compared with the comparison area data stored in the ROM.
As a result of this comparison, if the measured area data is larger than the comparison area data, it is determined that the punch surface 56 has adhered, and an abnormality is detected. On the other hand, if it is smaller than the comparison area data, it is determined that the powder is not attached to the punch surface 56, and the normality is detected.

After detecting an abnormality, the lower punch surface controller 1
1a and 11b output an abnormality detection signal to the sequencer 14. As a result, the sequencer 14 outputs a control signal to the mechanism unit MP, immediately stops the operation,
That is, the supply of the powder, the rotation of the motor and the like are stopped. Therefore, the tablet, that is, the product is not subjected to compression molding after the detection of the abnormality.

As described above, when abnormalities occur in the punch surface 56, the compression molding of the powder is stopped, so that a large amount of abnormal tablets can be prevented from mixing into normal tablets, and the yield can be improved. And improve productivity. Further, since the compression molding is stopped at the same time as the abnormality detection, the consumption of useless powder can be suppressed, and the tableting trouble can be quickly eliminated. In this case, the video signal to be processed and the upper punch 5
Since the correspondence with the punch surface 56 of the lower punch 6 is clear, the punch surfaces 56 of all the punches are inspected and the upper punch
In addition, there is no need to search for the lower punch 6, and the work time for searching for a punch that has caused a tableting failure can be greatly reduced, and the time until resumption of operation can be minimized.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, the configuration may be such that one punch CCD surface 56 of both the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 is photographed by one color CCD camera 10d. in this case,
The mounting position of the color CCD camera 110d matches the mounting position of the color CCD camera 10d for the lower punch 6 in the above embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the specific configuration of the color camera unit 110a is such that a tube-type scope 110e having a reflecting mirror 110f at the tip is provided for one color CCD camera 110d equipped with a C-mount lens. It is configured to receive illumination light from the light source output unit 10c via the light guide 10g to each of the tube scopes 110e.
A single punch surface controller 111 performs image processing on such a color camera unit 110a, and processes image signals for the upper punch 5 and the lower punch 6 in parallel. Also, there is one punch surface monitor TV13,
As shown in FIG. 12, for example, an image of the upper punch surface 56a is displayed on the upper side, and an image of the lower punch surface 56b is displayed on the lower side at the same time. By adopting such a configuration, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified, and the cost required for the equipment can be reduced. Also, color CC
Since the number of D cameras 110d is one, the work time required for the position adjustment can be reduced by half.

Alternatively, by assigning a plurality of color sensors 10b to one image signal, the damage DM on the punch surface 56 may be detected simultaneously with the detection of the adhesion of the powder. That is, the color setting of the color sensor 10b may be set to a dark color similar to the color of the punch surface 56 so as to detect a crack or a chip generated on the punch surface 56. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, the damage DM is detected at the peripheral portion of the punch surface 56, that is, the edge portion 56 c which is relatively likely to occur as compared with other portions, and the area of the edge portion 56 c is used as comparison area data. Is stored in advance, and the area data corresponding to the area of only the edge portion 56c of the shot punch surface 56 is compared with the comparison area data. When the area data exceeds the comparison area data, it is determined that there is damage. Then, the compression molding is stopped.

As described above, if the damage DM on the punch surface 56 is detected, it is possible to prevent the metal pieces of the punch from being mixed into the product. Further, since the compression molding is stopped even when a minute crack occurs, it is possible to prevent a problem that the punch is chipped off due to the crack and damages other punches and dies 4 beforehand. In addition, as shown in the above embodiment, the mounting direction of the color camera unit 10a does not match the tube type scope 10e in the radial direction of the turntable 3, but as shown in FIG.
In order to take an image of the punch surface 56 of the lower punch 6, even if the axis of the tube-type scope 10e is arranged in the vicinity of the product take-out part so as to match the tangential direction of a circle passing through the center of the mill 4, Good.

Further, in the case of a rotating disk rotating at a high speed of, for example, 60 rpm, processing of the image signal of the photographed punch surface 56 is performed by using a single punch or 2-3 punches.
It may be performed every other book. In this case, since the timing signal output from the synchronous sensor 15 corresponds to each punch, the image signal processing interval may be controlled by the timing signal.

In addition, the configuration of each section is not limited to the illustrated example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an abnormality in which powder adheres to the punch surface occurs, the compression molding is stopped by automatically detecting the punch surface on which the abnormality has occurred. The occurrence of products that could not be normally compressed due to a compression failure can be substantially eliminated, and the yield can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the powder from being wasted, and it is possible to reliably prevent the abnormal product from being mixed into the normal product and having to discard all the products that have been compressed and molded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view for clearly illustrating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a rotary powder compression molding machine showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary plan view centered on the turntable of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary side view showing the turntable of the embodiment in an unfolded state.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a color photographing unit and an abnormality detecting unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view showing the arrangement of a color camera unit for the upper punch of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view showing an arrangement of a color camera unit for a lower punch of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the punch surface of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the punch surface of the embodiment where an abnormality has occurred.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a color photographing unit and an abnormality detecting unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view showing the arrangement of a color camera unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an image of a punch surface according to another embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a plan view partially illustrating a modification of the arrangement of the color camera unit of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C ... Color photographing means D ... Abnormality detecting means K ... Punch M ... Mill T ... Rotating disk 1 ... Frame 2 ... Vertical shaft 3 ... Rotating disk 4 ... Mold 5 ... Upper punch 6 ... Lower punch 8a ... Preloading upper roll 8b ... Preloading Lower roll 9a ... Main roll upper roll 9b ... Main roll lower roll 10 ... Color camera unit 10a ... Color camera unit 10b ... Color sensor 10c ... Light source output unit 11 ... Controller 14 ... Sequencer 56 ... Punch surface

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotary disk is horizontally rotatably disposed in a frame via a vertical shaft, a plurality of dies are provided on the rotary disk at a predetermined pitch, and an upper punch and a lower punch are provided above and below each of the dies. Rotation in which the powder filled in the die is compressed by passing the upper and lower punches with the tip of the punch inserted in the die between the upper roll and the lower roll while holding the punch tip in a slidable manner. A powder compression molding machine, comprising: color photographing means for photographing a punch surface and outputting an image signal; and abnormality detecting means for detecting abnormality of the punch surface from the output image signal, wherein the color photographing means comprises a CCD. Color with imaging device
The camera unit and the image signal output from the color camera unit
A color selector for selecting a desired color signal, and illuminating a punch surface
A light source unit, and the abnormality detecting means calculates an area of the image from the color signal.
And the calculated area and the area of the normal punch surface
Comparators to compare and detect abnormalities based on the comparison results
A rotary powder compression molding machine, comprising: a detector; and stopping the compression molding of the powder when the abnormality detecting means detects the abnormality. 2. A color photographing means comprising an upper punch and a lower punch.
2. The rotary powder compression molding machine according to claim 1, wherein the punch surface is photographed simultaneously .